New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday signed an order banning all non-essential travel to North Carolina, after a law was passed blocking Charlotte's nondiscrimination ordinance. The ban, which took effect upon the signing of the order Monday, requires all New York state agencies, departments, boards and commissions to review any requests for state-funded travel to North Carolina. Any such travel that is not essential to the enforcement of New York state law or public health and safety will not be allowed.
Opponents of a new North Carolina law that bars individuals from using bathrooms reserved for the opposite sex sued the state on Monday, arguing the measure is unconstitutional and should be "blocked" by a federal court. State lawmakers passed the law last week during a one-day special session called to repeal a Charlotte city ordinance that would have allowed bathroom choice based on "gender identity" versus actual gender.
Gov. Nathan Deal on Monday vetoed Georgia's religious liberty bill that aimed to protect pastors who object to performing same-sex ceremonies. Groups such as the Faith and Freedom Coalition and the Georgia Baptist Mission Board supported the measure; but big corporations like Disney and Apple opposed it. State Sen. Bill Heath, one of the chamber’s most conservative lawmakers, said he’s confident a veto session will be successful. "We will call for a veto session,” he said. "And we have the votes."
Minnesota lawmakers unveiled a bill Wednesday that would ban the use of bathrooms reserved for the opposite sex. The actual language of the bill defines a person’s sex as “either male or female as biologically defined” at birth. Especially in schools; supporters say allowing students to use bathrooms of their choice puts other students at risk. "They should not be granted special rights just because they are confused or in denial about their biological sex," Barbara Anderson, a mother from Champlin, said.
The Walt Disney Company has threatened to stop filming in Georgia if Gov. Nathan Deal signs a religious freedom bill that would protect pastors' right to not perform same-sex union ceremonies. "Disney and Marvel are inclusive companies, and although we have had great experiences filming in Georgia, we will plan to take our business elsewhere should any legislation allowing discriminatory practices be signed into state law,” a Disney spokesman said on Wednesday. Other companies, including Time Warner, Apple, Dell, Hilton and Marriott have come out against the bill.
North Carolina's governor on Wednesday signed into law a measure that blocks local governments in the state from enacting ordinances to allow transgender people to use public bathrooms reserved for the opposite gender. The legislation came in response to such a provision approved last month in Charlotte that would have prohibited discrimination based on marital and familial status, sexual orientation, gender expression and gender identity.
A bill requiring all students to use the bathrooms and other facilities that match their biological sex has unanimously passed a House subcommittee. Governor Bill Haslam opposes the measure over concerns related to federal funding. Haslam has supported leaving gender identity and related facility decisions up to individual school districts.
A Christian magistrate in the UK was removed from his position after he appeared on TV discussing adoption by homosexual couples. Richard Page JP was interviewed on BBC Breakfast earlier this week by the BBC. He was featured on the program because he'd previously refused to agree that placing a child for adoption with a same sex couple was in the child's "best interests."
Alabama's top judge is speaking out against proposed changes to rules governing attorney ethics guidelines. The American Bar Association is pitching a set of ethical misconduct rules based on how a lawyer or their firm treats someone based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The proposal would cost an attorney their license to practice law if they discriminated against a client or person in the office setting according to a person's sexuality.
Two Nebraska lawmakers stormed out of a committee voting session and another promised a filibuster Friday after the panel advanced a bill that would protect state funding for faith-based child placement groups that refuse to work with homosexual and transgender foster parents. The Judiciary Committee voted 5-3 to send the measure to the full Legislature, where it faces three rounds of votes.
A top Missouri business association on Thursday sided against a contested proposal to amend the state Constitution to create religious protections for photographers, florists and others objecting to same-sex "marriage." The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry's position marks growing pushback from businesses to the measure, which survived a 37-hour filibuster by Senate Democrats and now is pending in the state House.
A federal court judge has ordered the government of Guam to pay more than $85,000 in legal fees for a same-sex couple who sued Gov. Eddie Calvo after they were denied a marriage application in April of last year. Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood ordered the government Wednesday to pay the fees within 30 days. In August, Guam lawmakers changed the law to allow for same-sex "marriages."
A religious freedom bill described by opponents as being discriminatory against same-sex couples passed the Georgia state legislature on Wednesday night in an 11th-hour vote ahead of the session's close. The legislation, dubbed the Religious Liberty Bill, still has to be signed by Georgia's Republican Governor Nathan Deal to become law. Deal has made clear that he will not sign a bill that allows discrimination, but his office did not immediately respond to request for comment on Wednesday night.
The Alabama Senate has voted to do away with state-issued marriage licenses following the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that purported to redefine marriage. Senators approved the bill 23-3 on Tuesday. It would require couples to file a form recording their marriage rather than have county probate offices issue licenses. The bill now moves to the Alabama House of Representatives.
The Ohio Supreme Court is adopting the use of gender-neutral references in family court cases in place of words such as "husband" and "wife" following the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that purported to redefine marriage across the country. This covers the areas of divorce, child support, guardianships, adoption, domestic relations and domestic violence. The updates to the Ohio high court rules and forms will take effect Tuesday.
Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore accused the American Bar Association of attempting to "forcibly elevate sexual behavior, appetites and self-styled identity" in a proposed change to one of its rules of professional conduct. The proposed revision would broaden existing bans on discrimination from conduct done in the course of representing a client to conduct "related to" law practice. The definition of prohibited conduct would also be focused on "harassment and knowing discrimination" while gender identity, ethnicity, and marital status would join the list of protections. Sexual orientation is already on the covered list.
The Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, and two large teachers unions — the Massachusetts Teachers Association and the American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts — are set to throw their support behind a bill that would prohibit discrimination against transgender people in restaurants, shopping malls, and other public accommodations. Nearly 200 businesses are also on board, including Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Google, and all of Boston’s major professional sports teams.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio issued an executive order on Friday giving men the right to use women's bathrooms and locker rooms, and vice versa. The mayor's edict is called, "Access to Single-Sex City Facilities Consistent With Gender Identity and Expression." It means that all New York City single-gender facilities must accommodate both sexes, including city buildings and offices, parks, children's playgrounds, swimming pools, and more, all access given without showing identification or any proof of gender.
Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery says 19 lawyers seeking $2.3 million for their work in attacking the state's marriage amendment are overcharging taxpayers. He says they only deserve $1.1 million. "It seeks to compensate the work of a legal team that ballooned to 19 attorneys, billing a total of nearly 6,000 hours," Slatery said in a court document. Slatery also argued that the documentation of time spent on the case is vague.
The Senate Armed Services Committee has confirmed the first openly homosexual leader of a U.S. military service, voting Thursday to approve the nomination of Eric Fanning to be Army secretary. However, it's unclear when the full Senate will take up Fanning's nomination. President Barack Obama nominated Fanning to the post in September. The committee's approval comes as the Obama administration works to eliminate barriers to military service based on sexuality and gender.
Legislation that has passed both chambers of the Republican-controlled General Assembly says no minister or religious organization can be penalized for acting in accordance with a belief that marriage should be only between a man and a woman. Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe has promised to veto it. The House of Delegates passed the measure 59-38 on Wednesday. The Senate approved it 20-19 last month. Neither vote is sufficient to override a veto.
The governor of Puerto Rico, Alejandro Garcia Padilla, rejected a decision by a federal judge Wednesday to uphold the U.S. territory's ban on same-sex "marriage." Federal Judge Juan Perez-Gimenez said in a ruling Tuesday that the Obergefell opinion does not automatically apply because Puerto Rico is not a state. However, on Wednesday, the Governor said he would not observe Tuesday's ruling, but rather follow rulings that higher courts have previously issued on the matter.
During a press conference Saturday night, Trump dismissed a question from DailyMail.com about whether he supports "gay marriage rights" — insisting that his position is well known and ordering a reporter to "sit down." "Do me a favor — call me tomorrow," Trump later told the reporter. "I'll have a long conversation with you. We'll talk about it. Call me tomorrow," he said. But after six attempts the interview has still failed to materialize.
As an "unincorporated territory," the Supreme Court’s Obergefell ruling doesn’t automatically apply to Puerto Rico, a federal judge ruled on Monday. "Notwithstanding the incorporation of fundamental rights to Puerto Rico through the Fourteenth Amendment, unlike the states, is not automatic," U.S. District Court Judge Juan Pérez-Giménez said in his ruling. The judge said the situation would change with an express decision from the U.S. Supreme Court, the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, Congress, or the territory's legislature.
Last Friday, the Alabama Supreme Court rejected the U.S. Supreme Court’s 5-4 marriage opinion, but much of the mainstream media has erroneously reported the exact opposite. In a public statement after the judgment was issued, Chief Justice Roy Moore clarified that the court's order "did not disturb the existing orders in this case or the holding in API that Alabama’s Sanctity of Marriage Amendment and the Alabama Marriage Protection Act were constitutional."